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Today is Women’s Day!

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Today is Women’s Day!

People usually don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in Iceland, which is an imported holiday, although its popularity is growing, especially among business owners who want to make money out of it. Valentine’s Day falls between two traditional Icelandic romantic days: January 20 was bóndadagur, or Husbands’ Day, and today it’s the women’s turn to be pampered on konudagur.

While bóndadagur marks the beginning of the old month of Þorri (and the Þorrablót mid-winter feasts with all sorts of strange treats) konudagur, Women’s Day or Wives’ Day, marks the beginning of the month of Góa.

In Icelandic there’s a saying: að þreyja þorrann og góuna, which refers to these two months representing the harshest winter period and if people can just stick it out until the end of Góa they have survived winter and can start looking forward to spring.

But even in the harshest time of winter it’s nice to have a reason to celebrate. On konudagur men must remember to treat their partners to something nice; flowers and chocolates are always popular.